When They Were Gleekful Toddlers
by dancingdreamers
Summary: A look into the lives of the Gleeks before WMHS. The daily happenings of what went down in the cul-de-sac they ALL lived in- and grew up TOGETHER in. The puppy love, the tragedys, and the playdates. A throwback into the early days of Glee!  read-review
1. Quinn & Brittany

Brittany was the first one to live in Lima, Ohio. She'd been there since she was born. Her parents bought the house to the farthest left, certainly not the largest, two years before she was born. She was born on June 29th. Being a loud baby, she always babbled, it becoming quite clear to her parents that she was not the brain child, like her older brother Brandon. Her father blamed it on their mother's use of alcohol during the pregnancy. Mrs. Peirce's substance abuse problems were old news in Lima Everyone knew, everyone tried to help her, and eventually, everyone gave up. Brittany never did though. She always remained happy, hopeful. It could've been the fact that she was too dense, and lived her life on a cloud, the real deal of the situation never getting to her, or it could've been that she was one of those people who never saw the downside, and who remained ever positive through anything. Whichever it was, it didn't go up against her mother's craziness, which is why she often found herself climbing up Quinn's bedroom window when she got scared at night, and Quinn telling her stories until she fell asleep, Quinn's mother often coming in to tuck the two blondes in, kissing Brittany on the forehead. It started when Brittany was six and Quinn was 5 1/2. The Fabrays knew very well of Brittany climbing in Quinn's window- never putting a stop to it, Judy even insisting a ladder be propped to the side of the house under Quinn's window.

Quinn moved into Lima the year before. They used to live in California, but Mr. Fabray's job brought the family to Lima. Quinn's older sister, Frannie, was the typical poster child. Blonde, on the softball team, perfect teeth and glowing skin- Quinn seemed to follow suit, she planned to become a cheerleader the first day of second grade. She became Brittany's rock when she moved to Lima, the two of them often talking over the white picket fence, Brittany showing Quinn the bruises on her arm when her mother got mad, Quinn showing Brittany her missing teeth and newly pierced ears. They continued to talk and play daily, making chalk murals all over the asphalt cul-de-sac. It wasn't until eight months later that Brittany started coming over at night time too. Quinn's small bed was pushed flush to the lavender walls in her bedroom, right under the window, the rest of the room filled with toys, all perfectly organized. She was half asleep, curled up with her arm around her teddy bears neck when she heard a quiet knock on the window. When she pushed it up, Brittany tumbled onto the bed.  
"How'd you get up here?" Quinn shrieked in a whisper.  
"I climbed the white fence up the side of the house, with the vines growing on it. My mom and dad were fighting. I was scared." Brittany explained slowly, her bottom lip quivering.  
"No- it's okay! You can sleepover and I'll protect you." Quinn nodded, shutting the window and laying down next to Brittany. Nudging her tattered teddy bear, she whispered, you can hug him when you sleep, he'll make you feel better. She said, the two little girls laying in Quinn's bed, facing each other, Brittany's hand in Quinn's as they slept.


	2. Rachel & Tina

It was the morning after one of these many sleepovers, two months after they began. The sun was blistering outside, and Quinn's parents had turned on the sprinklers for their daughters to play under, Brittany automatically joining in on the fun. After running around the front yard, making footprints on the hot driveway with their wet feet, Quinn stopped and noticed a girl across the cul-de-sac, sitting on the stairs of one of the houses, dressed in pink short overalls with a white tee shirt underneath, her hair dark and straight. Taking Brittany by the hand, the two marched over, barefooted and soaking wet.

"Who are you?" Brittany asked, tilting her head.  
"I'm Rachel." Was the brunette's quiet reply.  
"I'm Quinn, this is Brittany. Are you 5 too?" She asked, her head tilting. Rachel nodded. "My birthday is December 18th, I just moved here yesterday. I used to lke in Michigan, but then I moved here." The dark haired girl filled the two blondes in on her life. Quinn raised her eyebrows, impressed.  
"What's Michigan like?" Quinn said, walking up the path and sitting crossed legged on the ground in front of Rachel, Brittany automatically following her.  
"It's just like here basically." Rachel shrugged, looking past Quinn and Brittany, around the area, "except in Michigan we could drive to a big lake on the weekends and fish and swim." She nodded.  
"Theres no lakes here." Brittany piped up, "but we run through Quinn's sprinklers a lot." She tuned and pointed to the bigger house toward the middle of the culdesac where Fran and her friend were playing wet in the yard. Rachel stared for a long time.  
"I was home schooled in Michigan." She said softly, shrugging.  
"The school is across down" Brittany said, making Quinn giggle and poke her in the ribs. "she means that she didn't go school like us, her mom taught her the stuff we learn in school at home"  
"i don't have a mom." Quinn turned her head back to Rachel in shock. "where'd she go?" She asked, her jaw falling open in disbelief.  
"did she get lost?" Brittany asked, which made Rachel frown to her.  
"no. I have two dads instead." She nodded, to which Quinn raised her eyebrows, shrugging, and then Quinn's parents called the two girls back to their own yard for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. Rachel watched them go, getting up and walking back inside the house, where her fathers were unpacking the last of the boxes.  
"Are you meeting new friends?" Hiram asked as she went by. She nodded, not meeting his gaze, "yeah daddy." Was her response as she went by. He turned to look at Leroy, sighing.  
"See- we shouldn't have home schooled her" Leroy waved it off. "She'll adjust, she's just a kid."  
Up in her room, Rachel stood at the window. If she looked off to the side, she could see Quinn, Brittany, and two older girls sitting on the steps of a large house, eating sandwiches and laughing. Sighing, she went over to her fish tank, pressing her face to the glass. They were the only friends she'd ever really had. Dory and Clyde. Rachel had never been one to be liked. Her fathers were enough for her, so she got by. But she was a child, and never stopped wishing for friends. She'd tried preschool, but her father's pulled her out do to the bullying, both of them shocked and appalled at the cruelty of four year old children. When Hiram got a phone call from his brother about a house for sale a few towns away, they began to talk about it after Rachel went to bed some nights, and finally settled on the idea. Rachel hadn't really met the family much, so the move to Ohio would allow more visits to her Grandmother and cousins. All Rachel knew about her cousins were that there were three boys and just one girl. If they were anything like her loud, frankly annoying aunt who had visited them in Michigan once, Rachel thought she'd like to pass on the opportunity of meeting them. In her room, all she wanted was to be friends with those girls who were playing two houses over in the large culdesac. With a sigh, she flopped on her perfectly made bed, playing with the bow on her stuffed rabbit's neck. He counted as a friend too- you could say. Rachel had the rabbit since she was a baby. His light blue fur had faded, but she absolutely refused to let her Daddy wash him or get her a new one.  
Tina Cohen Chang also had a childhood toy she was determined not to part with. It was a cat- made of hypoallergenic material of course, to avoid a flare up of Tina's severe rosacea. She'd clung to the cat all her life, and took it to every doctors appointment, burying her face into it's neck when she would get her shots. The shots were different every time, different ways of 'maybe' diluting the severity of her condition. She couldn't go outside. Too much sun exposure caused a flare up. Too cold weather cause a flare up. Too hot weather caused a flare up. Her parent's tried tons of different ways to help their daughter adapt to the outdoors. None of it was successful, it just gave the small girl irritated red rashes on her cheeks. Sometimes rashes even came up on her back or legs, stomach or arms, which wasn't at all typical. The only time they found that they're daughter could go out was at dusk and night time in spring and summer, unless it was too hot or humid, which it frequently was in Alabama. Recently, her mother and father were in contact with a new doctor, who resided in Cleavland, Ohio. Tina's Jewish father had driven her up there to see the man twice. Dr. Patrick took some blood tests, while of course, Tina held tight to her little stuffed cat. The man was a successful doctor, so the family had begun to look for houses near the area. Not only would it provide them with easy commute to and from the doctors, it wasn't as hot in Ohio as it was in Alabama, where the Cohen-Chang's lived. When they found a home not to far away from Cleavland, they jumped at the chance, eager to do all they could to help Tina be a normal little kid.  
It was night time when the car pulled into the driveway of one of the other houses in the culdesac. Most of the furniture and belongings were already inside, as Tina's father had driven up to clean the whole house top to bottom to prevent any bacteria to spark flare ups and rashes. Rachel was finishing up her dinner, Quinn and Brittany were in the middle of the culdesac with sparklers, chasing each other. The squealed and ran when the Cohen Chang's car came, stopping, sparklers in hand, to watch the family get out of the car. Brittany smiled, "yay- a kid. I didn't like the Wilsons. They were old and cranky." Quinn raised her eyebrows, nodding in agreement, "maybe she'll be our friend."  
Tina entered her new home wide eyed, turning to her mother. "It's so cool out! Can I go outside Uhm-ma?" Her mother bit her lip, but finally nodded. "not too long though okay?" Her little girl rushed out the back door, into the yard. She stopped when she heard the creaking of a swing, and turned to her right to see a tiny brunette swinging in the yard next door. The girl stopped her swing when she saw Tina watching.  
"Hi!" She called. "My name is Rachel." Tina waved shyly as the girl walked up to the fence.  
"My name is Tina" She said in a soft voice. Rachel beamed a 100 watt smile and pushed her tiny arm across the fence. Tina shook her hand gently, laughing.  
"Where are you from?" Rachel asked, eyebrows raised.  
"I'm from Alabama. We moved here because my mom and dad know a good doctor to help my rosacea." Tina explained, opening her mouth to explain what rosacea was, but getting cut off by Rachel, who nodded.  
"My friend from Michigan had rosacea." She told her matter of factly. "It's a rash thing right?" To which Tina nodded. The two talked for awhile longer, about the places they'd lived, about what Rachel knew of Quinn and Brittany, and the boy who lived on the other side of Tina. Then Tina's father called her back inside, and Rachel left for her bath and bedtime. It wasn't until two days later that Tina would meet Quinn, Brittany, and her neighbor Artie.


End file.
